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2012-08-23
, 19:00
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Posts: 209 |
Thanked: 203 times |
Joined on Jun 2010
@ Portugal
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#2
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19:48 <Remi-X>: my name is fry and im shy
19:48 <Remi-X>: sh*t how can i even say something that dumb
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2012-08-23
, 19:13
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Posts: 2,292 |
Thanked: 4,135 times |
Joined on Apr 2010
@ UK
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#3
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The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to sixwheeledbeast For This Useful Post: | ||
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2012-08-23
, 19:38
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Posts: 5,028 |
Thanked: 8,613 times |
Joined on Mar 2011
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#4
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because I wanted to be able to plug USB thumbdrives in the phone without having to cart an adapter around with me
and all I had to do to connect the phone to the computer/charger was hack up a male-to-male USB cable.
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2012-08-23
, 19:44
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Posts: 21 |
Thanked: 2 times |
Joined on Aug 2012
@ Treviso, Italy
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#5
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Partially because I didn't have a suitable micro-sized replacement, and partially because I wanted to be able to plug USB thumbdrives in the phone without having to cart an adapter around with me, I did this Frankeinsteinian arrangement. I took pictures of the whole process, but my camera promptly and helpfully corrupted the files, so I took a few pics of the completed job.
I soldered wires to the usual points on the motherboard (except ground, which I got from the mounting point of the deceased microUSB socket), and I let them outside from the old receptacle of the port; in order to do so I had to carve away a significant part of the top enclosure using a dremel.
I also removed a small part of the metal shield inside the top casing. I grabbed this picture online.
The red part is what I cut - there's a sort of "wall" that interferes with the passage of the wires from the board, and it had to go. I sanded the result so it wouldn't cut the wires and cause a short.
I then affixed the type-A USB socket to the phone itself using a large glop of melt glue; I did not have much available space to glue to, so I did the most of what I had - melt glue being the only type of glue that works better the more of it you apply. So far it seems stable; should the glue eventually let go I'll try two-part epoxy instead.
Then I just had to solder the four wires, and cover the solder points in more melt glue, and this is the result. Works perfectly for plugging in stuff, and all I had to do to connect the phone to the computer/charger was hack up a male-to-male USB cable. Coincidentally, if you ever need to do that, use chunky cables and keep them short; my first attempt with the cheapest cables I could find got the N900 complaining it wasn't getting enough power to charge.
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2012-08-23
, 20:29
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Posts: 80 |
Thanked: 79 times |
Joined on May 2012
@ Northern Italy
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#6
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You do realise that a microUSB is more hard wearing than a standard size port.
There was talk on mating cycles on IRC recently.
If you charge your device once a day; a microUSB port has a life of ~27 years, a miniUSB is ~11 years and a standard USB is ~4 years.
So, you've traded carrying female-to-female adapter, for carrying male-to-male adapter?
repairing port via cable method isn't as easy as it may sound.
The Following User Says Thank You to Fallingwater For This Useful Post: | ||
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2012-08-23
, 20:47
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Posts: 5,028 |
Thanked: 8,613 times |
Joined on Mar 2011
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#7
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I find these numbers questionable. My main computer is about four years old, and its ports routinely see more than one connection per day; as a computer tech I'm always using USB stuff of one kind or another, and I can easily average 5 or 6 connections daily. No ports have failed yet.
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2012-08-23
, 20:54
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Posts: 2,292 |
Thanked: 4,135 times |
Joined on Apr 2010
@ UK
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#8
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I hope they'll put out something else Linux-powered in all that time
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2012-08-23
, 21:25
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Posts: 5,028 |
Thanked: 8,613 times |
Joined on Mar 2011
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#9
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The Following User Says Thank You to Estel For This Useful Post: | ||
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2012-08-23
, 22:00
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Posts: 2,292 |
Thanked: 4,135 times |
Joined on Apr 2010
@ UK
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#10
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The Following User Says Thank You to sixwheeledbeast For This Useful Post: | ||
I soldered wires to the usual points on the motherboard (except ground, which I got from the mounting point of the deceased microUSB socket), and I let them outside from the old receptacle of the port; in order to do so I had to carve away a significant part of the top enclosure using a dremel.
I also removed a small part of the metal shield inside the top casing. I grabbed this picture online.
The red part is what I cut - there's a sort of "wall" that interferes with the passage of the wires from the board, and it had to go. I sanded the result so it wouldn't cut the wires and cause a short.
I then affixed the type-A USB socket to the phone itself using a large glop of melt glue; I did not have much available space to glue to, so I did the most of what I had - melt glue being the only type of glue that works better the more of it you apply. So far it seems stable; should the glue eventually let go I'll try two-part epoxy instead.
Then I just had to solder the four wires, and cover the solder points in more melt glue, and this is the result. Works perfectly for plugging in stuff, and all I had to do to connect the phone to the computer/charger was hack up a male-to-male USB cable. Coincidentally, if you ever need to do that, use chunky cables and keep them short; my first attempt with the cheapest cables I could find got the N900 complaining it wasn't getting enough power to charge.